The Stranger Game

It’s been four years since 15-year-old golden girl Sarah Morris disappeared from Pennsylvania’s MacArthur Park. Her sister, Nico, now 15 herself, has gotten used to Sarah’s disappearance eclipsing nearly every aspect of her family life. When they get a call from a children’s center in Florida claiming that Sarah is alive and suffering from amnesia, they immediately hop a plane. Nico doesn’t know what to think, but she does know that this thin, pale girl is a shadow of the sister she once knew, the sister who physically and emotionally abused her on an almost daily basis. This Sarah is kind and warm, and as Nico spends more time with her, the evidence mounts that a stranger may be among them. Busby’s (Blink Once) tense mystery alternates between Nico and Sarah’s points of view, using the tactic of an unreliable narrator to great effect while exploring how tragedy can alter every detail of a family’s existence. A final twist leads to a surprising and utterly satisfying conclusion. Ages 13–up. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Oct.)